The present invention relates to a connector for on-board mounting, which is mounted on a board such as a printed circuit board to be incorporated in an apparatus, and is connected to a cable-side connector.
A communication cable with which signals are exchanged between electronic apparatuses is used by electrically connecting to each other a connecting terminal (contact) provided on a cable-side connector of the communication cable and a connecting terminal (contact) provided on a board-side connector (connector for on-board mounting).
Nowadays, countermeasures against electrostatic discharge (ESD) are taken for the board-side connector, and the connector devices having structures of various types are proposed as the countermeasures. ESD represents discharge of static electricity charged in the cable from a metal portion of the cable-side connector to the contact of the board-side connector, or discharge of static electricity, which is charged in an operator and moved from the operator to a metal portion of the board-side connector, to the contact of the board-side connector, when the cable-side connector and the board-side connector are connected to each other. ESD damages circuits on a board, and hence the countermeasures against ESD are taken for the board-side connector provided on the apparatus side.
JP 2007-59151 A discloses a connector device for which the countermeasures against ESD are taken. As illustrated in FIGS. 1(a) and (b) of JP 2007-59151 A, the connector device disclosed therein includes an insulative block body having contacts incorporated therein, latch fittings fixed to the block body and latched to a cable connector, and a shield member which has through-holes to be fit-engaged with the latch fittings and covers the outer surface of the block body. The shield member has folded-back pieces formed by folding back the shield member in at least a part of the through-holes, the shield member being brought into elastic contact with the latch fittings through an intermediation of the folded-back pieces.
As described above, in the connector device disclosed in JP 2007-59151 A, the latch fittings and the shield member can be made conductive with each other through an intermediation of the folded-back pieces serving as conductive members. It is stated in the document that, also in the case where the charged cable-side connector is connected, static electricity therein flows through the latch fittings to the ground through an intermediation of the shield member and, therefore, the static electricity is prevented from being discharged to the contact portions.